


A Thousand Lights

by oathsofrestraint



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: A Lot of Anime, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cody and Lisa are siblings, Fluff, Just a dash of angst, Multi, Please Give Isaac Some Friends Zack, Slow Burn, gonna make this ship Canon King, me making up so much stuff about their home lives because Zack wont provide, seriously its gonna take awhile to get the ball rolling with these two, these boys got so much drama going on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-29 01:49:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15719445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oathsofrestraint/pseuds/oathsofrestraint
Summary: Isaac seeks to reclaim both his honor and his friends, but instead finds comfort within an entirely new group of people.Cody seeks an escape from familial responsibility, and instead finds a new home.





	1. all of my regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so its been like 84 years since ive written any fanfics but i really wanted to get this one out there, so here we are
> 
> electroprez originally started out as a "dramatic anime boyfriends" joke but then the discord got Into It and now im sitting here trying to provide the goods
> 
> i really gotta dedicate this to my beta syncro (syncro37 here on ao3), him and i talked about this ship like A Lot and he helped me with the writing and then he drew that art which kjsfkfs i still love so much syncro you're probably reading this and i want you to know that youre awesome, 1000%

It starts, as all great anime do, with a sewing needle and a chair.

Well, actually, no anime come to mind when Isaac thinks of sewing needles or chairs. He just thinks of redemption, loneliness, and how many times is he going to prick his fingers jeez he really should have asked the lady at the craft store how to properly hand sew. The video demonstration he found on Youtube keeps freezing, but he assumes that’s from the signal of an abandoned building in a forest being bad, not the world out to punish him like it seems to normally be.

“So… you decided to quit the Activity Club?” Doorman asks from somewhere behind him.

Isaac stops his re-sewing of the chair he zapped two days ago; he’ll have to get professional help on this for it to be properly fixed. Standing up from his crouched position, he turns and glances at Doorman.

* * *

_“I’m… I’m sorry,” Isaac said, trying his best to keep eye contact with Isabel. She appeared to be just as uncomfortable as he felt, but he knew she wanted to hear this more than anything else. “I don’t hate you, I’ve just… I have no excuse, I’ve just been a bad friend, and a bad person in general. Um… Is there any way I can make it up to you?”_

_“Just,” Isabel sighed, and looked at the floor for a few moments, then back up to lock eyes with Isaac, “Don’t shut me out anymore, okay? I want us to be friends, but you have to be willing to actually talk to me from time to time.”_

_“Got it,” he said, nodding. “If I seem like I’m pulling away again, just, well, hit me or something.”_

_“I’m not going to hit you,” Isabel said, her stance becoming rigid._

_“O-Oh, I was joking, I don't actually want you to hit m-"_

_“I'm not going to hit anybody.”_

_“Okay, okay, no hitting then. How about you just, like, text me? Or poke my cheek?”_

_“Yeah, okay, that’s a better plan… Are you really going to quit the club?” Isabel asked suddenly._

_“I… don’t know.” Isaac knew he said what he did as a spur of the moment emotional breakdown, but he still doesn’t want to try going back, not yet._

_“... Well,” she said, loosening up and then poking his cheek, “Just know that I'm here to talk, even if you quit.”_

* * *

“It’s… more of a break, really. I think being away from Mr. Spender for some time would be good. I don’t… feel comfortable around him right now.”

“I do believe time away from the club advisor would be good for you, indeed. Are you still going to speak to the other members?”

“I talked to Isabel about, um, mending our friendship. Even if I can’t know about the organization, I do still want to know how the rest of the group is doing. I need to stop isolating myself from them, I see that now.”

“I’m happy to hear you’ve made that stride without my guidance, Isaac,” Doorman says cheerfully, moving towards Isaac to place his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Even if it does not seems like it, there is always a rainbow after a storm.”

“You’re never going to quit with the metaphors, are you?” 

“Not when it’s so much fun, no.”

Isaac groans, shrugging off Doorman’s hand and running his own through his hair, “I just… I want to get better. I _have_ to get better.”

“And you will, Young Master. These things take time, especially after so much has built up. To break barriers, to mend relationships, it doesn’t happen fast. _And_ ,” Doorman says, “it doesn’t happen _alone_. Allow Isabel and the others to help you. Maybe... Maybe find someone outside of the club, who can really help you get an outsider perspective. Someone your age, preferably.”

“Someone outside the club who knows of spirits and can help me?” Isaac asks incredulously. The first person that comes to mind is Dimitri, but interacting with him would be the biggest bridge he’d ever have to cross.

“They don’t need to know of the supernatural for them to help you, Young Master. I believe, more than anything else, you could just use a friend. One who could take your mind off of the whole spirit business.”

“... Okay, I’ll try. I doubt anyone would want to hang out with me solely for my personality though.”

“You would be surprised what all kinds of people exist,” Doorman says as Isaac phone buzzes once. It’s from his mom.

_It’s getting late in Mayview. Are you heading to bed now?_

Crap, he didn’t even notice the time. He nudges aside his sewing tools with his foot and sends back _Yes, I was just finishing my homework_ before pulling out the key to his house, “Um, could you get me home please?”

“Of course, Young Master. We will speak again tomorrow,” Doorman says, leaning down for Isaac to put in his key. “I hope you sleep well.”

“You too,” Isaac says, stepping inside his house and a quick “goodnight” before closing the door.

_... Wait, spirits don’t sleep, there was no need for me to say “You too.”_

He presses his hands to his face and sighs loudly, the sound almost echoing through the empty house. _How embarrassing, I hope he forgets that by tomorrow._

His phone vibrates again. _Good. Sleep well. I love you._

 _Love you too._ He sends back before flopping over on the living room couch. He might as well sleep here tonight. As he waits for himself to get tired enough to sleep, his mind drifts to Doorman’s advice.

_A non-spectral friend? I don’t even really know any non-spectrals that well… Do I even actually know anyone in my grade? The only people I talk to about my interests are online, and that’s all anonymous. No one in the school is gonna want to be my friend, let alone help me with my lifetime’s worth of personal problems._

He wipes his eyes, promising himself not to cry tonight. Crying before bed is the worst. It leaves his eyes red and sore in the morning, and he looks even more pitiful than normal.

 _You can’t think like that anymore, Isaac! You have to make more friends. You will make more friends. You just have to try to put yourself out there more. It will be okay! It will… it will be okay,_ he thinks as his vision slowly blurs and then fades out, pulling him into a deep sleep. 

* * *

Cody cleans out his locker and backpack the Monday after the situation with the spirit that possessed Jeff. He… doesn’t want to be around anything cold and metal. _This is normal,_ he tells himself. _This is just to remove myself from thinking about what happened. I’ll begin using my locker again at a later date._

His originally plain silver thermos cup (he normally wouldn’t approve of a middle school student regularly drinking coffee, but his vampire side makes being up early a struggle) is replaced with a rubber covered bright pink cat cup he’s borrowed from Violet. He changes out his mechanical pencils for normal No.2 pencils. His notebooks and folders are now brighter in color and made of a softer material. Luckily with his place in Student Council, no teacher is going to protest if he simply brings his bag to class. 

_This is fine. This is just a way to cope for the time being._

He texted Jeff earlier that he would meet him in the school library before classes start, so he heads towards there after shoving everything he won’t be using into his locker and slamming it shut.

Jeff is already sitting at a table when he gets there, and he’s excitedly talking to someone who seems to be just as into the conversation.

“Have you seen the trailer for the new upcoming _Motile Outfit Gundam: Chronicles_?”

“I haven’t, actually! It’s been awhile since I’ve watched any mecha anime, there’s just so many I don’t know which are worthwhile. Does it look good?”

“It looks AMAZING!” Jeff says, waving his arms up and down. “They’re making the whole thing CGI and it actually looks like a good CGI anime movie. Not like the previous _Gundam_ movie, but it was still a good one.”

As Cody moves closer, he recognizes the kid he’s talking to vaguely. _The only member of the Activity Club not in seventh grade. I can’t recall his name though._

Jeff sees him approaching, and waves towards Cody with a big grin, “Heya Cody! Look at this drawing Isaac did!”

_Isaac O’Connor_. He sits down beside the two, leaning forward to see the drawing. It’s a slightly crude drawing of some kind of mecha humanoid, but there’s a close attention to the smaller details of the drawing. He looks towards Isaac, who’s gone silent and seemingly more nervous about how Cody will judge it. 

“Wow, this is really cool! Is this a design you made yourself?” 

“Um.. kind of. I used elements from the characters in _Material Rebellio_ , but otherwise I did it myself, yeah,” Isaac says, his face entirely red. Cody notices that there’s band-aids all over his fingers. _I can’t imagine drawing that would have caused so many injuries on his hands._

“I’ve never heard of that show.” 

“It was more of a niche show, and it didn’t get as much attention as it clearly deserved. The animation in it is, like, the best I’ve ever seen! If you look it up on Youtube, there’s surely clips on it on there.” 

“It looks friggin’ gorgeous, Cody,” Jeff says, holding up his phone, which is seemingly playing a clip of the show Isaac has described. 

“We should watch it together sometime, then,” Cody says, then looks towards Isaac. “Would you be okay with that, rewatching a show?” 

“W-What? Me?” 

“Yeah!” Jeff says, standing up and leaning towards Isaac, who surely can’t look more embarrassed and confused by the situation. “You like anime, I like anime, we should totally watch it together sometime! Do you have a phone? We can get each other’s numbers!” 

“Um, yeah, uh, here,” he says, pulling out his phone. The two exchange numbers as Cody watches, trying to get a read on Jeff’s new friend. 

_I’ve only ever seen him alongside other members of the club, so why isn’t he with them now? Does it have to do with what happened with… the situation a couple days ago?_

The bell interrupts Cody’s thoughts. Jeff heads towards the door, then turns and waits for Cody to catch up. Cody looks down at Isaac, who’s putting away his drawing and staring at his most recently added contact with some kind of awe. 

“Um,” Cody starts, holding out his hand towards Isaac. “I know he said my name but I might as well introduce myself properly. I’m Cody. You’re Isaac, right?” 

Isaac turns his complete attention to Cody, then down at his hand. He slowly takes it and says, “Yeah. It’s, uh, nice to meet you. And Jeff. I’ve never… actually been complimented on my drawings.” 

“Really? But they’re so good!” 

“Not many kids think anime is cool, unfortunately.” 

“Well, I’ve never been into it the same way Jeff has, but I certainly think it’s cool,” Cody says, shaking his hand briefly. _The only people he talks to is probably the other members of the club, then._

“Well, I’ll talk to you later then, Isaac!” 

“Yeah, um, see you later Cody.” 

As Cody meets up with Jeff, who’s shouting “Text me after school, Isaac!” and being shushed by the librarian, he glances back at Isaac one last time and smiles at him. Isaac goes completely still for a moment, then waves and says “Will do!” 

_Well, at least both Jeff and him get something out of this friendship._

* * *

As Cody and Jeff leave the library, Isaac looks down at his phone again while picking up his backpack and leaving the room. 

“... I… I have to make this friendship go well. I will be friends with Jeff, I will be.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont wanna use actual anime names so thesaurus is my best friend rn skshdf
> 
> i am actually referencing two anime, the first being the Mobile Suit Gundam: Narrative, but i have no clue about any mecha anime ever so i picked the most obvious one. i dont actually know if its cgi either
> 
> i have, however, watched Concrete Revolutio, which is truthfully really freaking awesome but super confusing. if you like cool fight scenes, this one is packed to the brim with them, id recommend it to basically anyone interested in well done animation
> 
> and here i am sounding like isaac. these anime references arent going to stop at all and i wont stop recommending my favorites
> 
> ignoring all that weeb stuff, thanks for reading!!


	2. two sides of the same coin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff and Isaac's newly formed friendship goes off without a hitch.
> 
> Now he's just gotta win over the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhhh thank you all so much for the comments and kudos you're all the best and i owe you my life
> 
> i dunno how often i'm gonna update BUT i've like literally got nothing else going on besides work so i'll try to churn out these bad boys as soon as possible
> 
> this one's a bit longer but there's a lot more going on. i'll try to keep all chapter under 5k, but if that doesnt happen then *shrug emoji*

After four days of texting and talking outside of school hours, Isaac has come to the conclusion that Jeff Flavors is the greatest friend, no, the greatest _person_ on the planet.

He’s never been someone’s friend because of common interests and hobbies, but he wishes he had tried to find a friend like this before, maybe he wouldn’t have felt as negative as he had. 

He’s never been friends with someone so _optimistic_ and _open_. Even if Jeff doesn’t watch the exact same shows as him, he’s totally willing to listen to Isaac talk about them. Isaac hopes he’s doing the same, and doesn’t interrupt Jeff when he starts talking about mecha anime that Isaac has never heard of. If anything, Jeff’s energy feeds into Isaac’s, and he can feel him carrying himself in a much lighter way.

Jeff likes when Isaac “acts like he’s in an anime” and Isaac likes when Jeff joins in on the dramatic acts. It’s been so long since he’s genuinely laughed at something, and not in a way that’s just making fun of someone else. 

Now that he’s not spending most of his time with the club, he’s also been trying to get into all the same things Jeff is into. Jeff constantly sends him funny videos and pictures, and Isaac has spent multiple hours online trying to understand everything he’s been introduced to. 

Jeff never makes fun of Isaac’s interests, even when Isaac told him that his favorite show is _Chivalry x Romance_. Jeff just grinned and said “Well we’ll have to watch it together soon!” and Isaac felt himself tear up.

Jeff is his favorite person, hands down. Heck, whole body down. It’s like that “the floor is lava” meme Jeff sent him: the floor is Jeff, and Isaac’s on a mission to get every single part of him merged into the floor.

And then Jeff drops a bombshell.

Isaac receives the message on Friday night while he’s watching a gaming video that Jeff sent him.

_hey im gonna have cody violet and lisa sleepover at my place tomorrow you wanna join?_

His head is swimming, his pulse has increased, oh god he’s having a heart attack. 

Isaac’s been invited to a _sleepover_. And not for _late night spectral training_. 

Oh god Jeff’s other friends are gonna be there.

Isaac hasn’t spoken to any of the others besides a nervous “uh hey” after Cody waved at him while passing by in the hallway, but he feels like he probably knows every single one of their entire life stories because of Jeff. Jeff talks about his friends a lot. At first it sort of made Isaac feel unincluded, but then Jeff began saying things like “oh dude, Cody likes that show, you two should totally talk about it” and “Violet has that same phone case! You should show her when you meet her” and “Lisa, she runs the store, remember? Yeah well she said she likes your hair and she wants to know what products you use” and now Isaac’s been slowing hyping himself up to befriend them too.

This is the first time he’s been excited to meet new people.

… And now he’s been staring at the message for about five minutes straight.

His hands shake as he types his response.

_Sure!_

* * *

He’s going to die. Isaac is going to die. He’s going to burst into flames and his heart’s gonna stop. The world is ending. Someone, anyone, please call for an ambulance, he’s going into shock.

It’s 7 p.m. and Isaac O’Connor is standing in front of Jeff’s house, pillow case with tomorrow’s outfit and his phone charger inside tucked under his arm. His phone is in his other hand with Google Maps pulled up.

He rechecks the address Jeff sent him, then retypes it into Google Maps. This is definitely the place.

The house looks pretty normal on the outside. It definitely gives a lot homier vibes than his own house. There’s a bike laying haphazardly in the yard, and yellow flowers line the outside of the house. The tree in the yard has a birdhouse hanging from it. 

He begins heading towards the door.

_Listen, Isaac, it’s gonna be fine._

He doesn’t know if people are supposed to research ‘what happens at sleepovers’ but there’s some horror in finding out there’s apparently a difference between _girl_ sleepovers and _boy_ sleepovers, and this one’s gonna have _both_ , so Isaac had no idea how to properly prepare for this.

The only thing Isaac knows is that they’re probably going to play video games at some point, so he spent all of this morning looking up the controls of all the games Jeff mentioned that Isaac hasn’t played because he doesn’t want to come off as a complete ditz on his first time meeting Jeff’s friends.

He stops directly in front of the door.

_Isaac, it’s fine, clearly these guys aren’t an exclusive group if Jeff says they want me to come as well. It’s fine it’s fine it’s fine. Plus, these are seventh graders, I already rank above them in terms of coolness and status._

As his hand reaches up to knock, he flinches back hard at the sound of _“WAIT!”_ and lightning striking right by the door.

The world shifts. The home becomes that of ancient Roman architecture, the ground becomes solid marble, and as he turns to see what’s happening, he notices the tree is now a Roman column.

“W-What? What do you want, King C?”

The spirit in question is crouched, staring directly at the door with the same level of focus he had when trying to locate Hijack.

“One… no, TWO…”

“Two what?”

“I don’t KNOW what they are, ISAAC BOY. That’s why I’m trying to FIGURE OUT. All I know is that they aren’t HUMAN.”

“Two non-humans?” He asks, turning back to look at the door. “Like, spectrals?”

“Like MONSTERS, you BUFFOON.”

“Monsters? But Mr. Spender said there are no mo-”

“The GLASSES MAN being INCORRECT is NOTHING NEW, ISAAC. You quit that DUMB CLUB for a REASON. Although, I don’t APPROVE of your new FRIEND.”

“Well that sucks, because Jeff is my friend and you aren’t going to change that.”

“I liked the ISABEL CHILD more. She wasn’t a SNIVELING NERD BABY.”

“Hey, stop talking about him like that! He’s been a better friend in a week than anyone else has been in months! And I’m still friends with Isabel, kind of. We still try to text.”

When Isaac first got the message of _we got a new member today, hes a medium too. maybe you should meet him, help him figure that all out_ from Isabel on Tuesday, he felt sick to his stomach. _My place has already been completely filled, I really am not a necessary member._

He sent back a simple _I’ll think about it_ and left it at that. It would be good to have a friend that totally _gets it_ , he knows, but he’s had more fun just avoiding the whole spiritual scene.

“Either way, that building isn’t SAFE.”

“It’s not Jeff, is it?”

“If he were a MONSTER I would maybe APPROVE. He’s CLEARLY just a PATHETIC HUMAN CHILD.”

“So if human Jeff and I’m assuming his also human family let in some monsters, I doubt they’re dangerous.”

“FINE. If you are in DANGER, I will not hesitate to UNLEASH my FULL MIGHT.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. Just leave me alone for now.”

The world fades back to into normal world, and he stares at the door and takes a deep breath before knocking.

He hears some voices, one he recognizes as Jeff, begin talking a bit louder. The sound of quick footsteps is followed almost immediately by the door swinging open and Jeff standing in front of him, his grin seemingly taking up most of his (visible) face, “You’re here!”

“I-I’m here!” he says back, almost immediately matching Jeff’s enthusiasm. _See, Isaac? It’s totally fine._

“Come on in!” Jeff says, gesturing for him to do just that. Isaac follows his command, asking, “Should I take off my shoes or?”

“It’s up to you! My parents don’t care, as long as you don’t track mud or whatever.”

Isaac nods and takes off his shoes anyway, setting them by the door.

“We were just about to order pizza. You don’t eat meat, right? Would you still eat cheese pizza?”

“Yeah, of course!”

“Sweet! Okay okay, this way to the living room!” Jeff says, dramatically pointing down the hall and then leading the way. “Come along, young squire, to your destiny!”

Isaac laughs and then follows close behind him. As Jeff and Isaac enter the living room where the rest of the kids are, Jeff shouts, “Mooooom, Isaac said he’s good with cheese pizza!”

“Alright, sweetie! I’ll call the pizza place right now!” a sweet voice answers from what seems to be the kitchen.

“Isaac, this is Cody, Violet, and Lisa,” Jeff says, pointing at each kid as he says their name and then back at Isaac. “Everyone, this is Isaac.”

“Great to see you again, dude,” Cody says from his place on the floor. He’s got a controller in his hand, presumably for the game that’s paused on the television screen.

“‘Sup?” Violet asks, sitting cross legged directly in front of Lisa, who appears to be braiding Violet’s hair.

“Jeff has said quite a lot about you, I’m glad that we’ve finally met,” Lisa says, making direct eye contact with Isaac despite still messing with Violet’s hair. It’s kind of intimidating.

“Oh, um, me too. I’ve heard a lot about you all, I’m glad I can finally put names to faces and stuff.”

“Splendid! Well, here, sit sit sit. We have much to discuss,” Lisa says, patting the space beside her.

“Alrighty,” he says, sitting where she directed and pulling out his phone to send _Made it to Jeff’s house_ to his mom before putting it back in his pocket. “What’re we discussing?”

“First of all, your _hair_. I’ve never seen it not spiked up perfectly, how do you get it like that every single day?”

“Oh, uh.” Logically he can’t tell them _“oh it’s because the spirit possessing me made it that way”_ so he goes with, “After I get out of the shower I sit upside down so my hair dries sticking straight up.”

“You don’t use any product?”

“I don’t even know of any hair products.”

“Very interesting.”

“Maybe I should try doing that,” Cody adds, eyes focused on the game him and Jeff are playing. _Mario Kart 8_ , Isaac recognizes it as. He hasn’t played much of it, but he does know the controls without having to look them up.

“You would look ridiculous with spiked up hair, brother,” Lisa says. _Oh, so they’re… twins?_

“No way, I could totally pull it off, see?” Cody puts the controller in his lap, licks his hands, and then runs them backwards through his hair. It’s not up nearly as well as Isaac’s, but his front bangs do stick up a lot more. It does, in fact, look ridiculous.

Isaac can’t help snorting, and then covering his nose and mouth in embarrassment. _Oh geez that was probably rude of me, I should apolo-_

Violet and Jeff immediately erupt into laughter, and Cody joins in soon after. Lisa smirks and looks over at Isaac, saying, “I think Isaac here is the only one who can pull off the look.”

“O-Oh, really? Thank you,” Isaac says, face heating up. No one’s complimented his hair before.

“You’re just a hater, Lisa.” Cody goes back to his gaming, his hair still up. “I’m practically America’s Next Top Model with this look.”

“Oh, most definitely. Tyra Banks _wishes_ she could look as good as you.”

“You’re only saying that because we have almost identical DNA.”

Jeff and Violet start laughing even harder. Isaac has no clue what they’re referencing, but he’s pretty sure he understands what’s going on, and joins in on the laughter.

_This is gonna be totally fine._

* * *

“Pick a color, any color. Actually, feel free to pick multiple colors, since everyone else so far has at least two.”

“Okay, um… how about the glittery blue and the glittery pink? Oh, and like in the way Lisa got hers done, please.”

“Good choice,” Violet says, grabbing the two nail polish bottles Isaac is referring to.

Isaac’s never had his nails painted, but he likes how it looks whenever he sees someone with theirs painted. He places his hand on the footstool and Violet begins to paint it. He uses his free hand to finish his last piece of pizza. It’s been so long since he’s eaten something from a restaurant, even fast food.

It’s only been about 30 minutes but this entire thing has felt almost _surreal_ with how easily Jeff’s friends integrated Isaac into the group. Lisa has been practically glued to his back, leaning on him and putting various clips and ties in his hair without any clear explanation. He hasn’t seen himself in a mirror but he probably looks crazier than Cody did.

Violet’s warmed up to him just as quickly, probably because he hasn’t protested a single thing the two girls have done to him so far. 

As he switches hands and blows lightly on the newly pink and blue fingernails as instructed, Jeff scoots beside him and begins inspecting the nail polish.

“... And done! Here’s the brand new you!” Violet says, setting down the polish brush and making jazz hands.

Isaac blows on his other hand and then checks them out. His right hand has all blue nails except the pink ring finger, and his left hand has all pink nails except the blue ring finger. He doesn’t understand why he likes it that way, but it looks great.

“It’s just me but prettier.”

“There is power in beauty, Isaac,” Lisa says, resting her head on his shoulder. “Oh, we match, perfect. This means you’re contractually obligated to be my partner in crime.”

“What kind of crime?”

_“Information brokering.”_

“... What kind of information?”

_“All of it.”_

She’s the most confusing person Isaac has ever met.

“School gossip,” Cody, who’s been silently painting his toenails purple this whole time, clarifies.

“Oh, so like who’s dating who.”

“And who’s jumping through buses.”

“... Oh, yeah, I know what you’re referring to. Student Council hasn’t got him yet?”

“From what I’ve been told,” Cody says, looking up and meeting Isaac’s gaze. “They’re trying to recruit him.”

“Him? A member of Student Council?! That’s like me being on the football team!”

“We have a football team?” Jeff asks, picking up a bottle of green nail polish, studying it, and setting it back down.

“Yeah, and they’re notoriously bad. The Mayview Academy team destroys us every single year.”

“You go to the games?” Violet asks, staring at Isaac with her eyebrow raised in question.

“Uh… sometimes. There’s not much else to do in this town. Plus the popcorn tastes good.”

“I’ve seen a few, but they get pretty boring after seeing us lose like five games in a row,” Cody adds, wiggling his toes and admiring his handiwork.

“Waiiit Cody you go to the games?! Why haven’t you told me?” Jeff asks, attention turned towards his best friend. Lisa and Violet turn to face him as well.

“I go because Collin has to go for the Journalism Club, and he asked me to join him. I didn’t think it would be fun for you to join us just watching the score up in the pressbox for like two hours.”

“Oh…” Jeff’s face, or that of it Isaac could see, fell flat. _Oh god I really shouldn’t have brought this up._

“U-Um,” Isaac says, “Jeff, did you pick a color?”

Jeff, seemingly by some form of magic, does a complete emotional 180 and turns to Isaac, smiling sheepishly, “I, uh, I haven’t. They all look so nice, I can’t decide.”

“How about each of us decide one, and you can just have five different colors?”

“W-Would that be okay?” Jeff asks, (probably) looking at Violet, who was the one to bring the polish in the first place.

“Yeah, of course!”

“Awesome!” Jeff cheers, grabbing the green one he had before. “I’m picking this one.”

Violet grabs the pink, Lisa takes the gold, Cody grabs the orange, and Isaac picks the yellow. 

“So we each get two fingers to paint.”

“I can get my pinkies, those are easy ones,” Jeff says, messily painting them. More of the polish ends up on his skin than his nail, but he doesn’t seem to care.

The other kids pick which ones after him (Lisa calls dibs on the middle ones) and get to work. By the end of it, his hands are a mess of colors, but Isaac thinks Jeff’s look the best out of anyone’s.

“Okay, I’m gonna take a picture of them! Everyone put your hand in a circle,” Violet says, grabbing her phone and pulling up her camera app.

Everyone places their left hand on the floor. Isaac’s ends up between Violet’s and Lisa’s, and when he bumps shoulders with Violet trying to get close enough, she looks at him and mouths _Thank you_ , which leaves him entirely confused, so he mouths back _No problem_ and she smiles.

Violet takes the picture and shows it to the group. Everyone “oohs” and “ahhs” at it, it really does look nice. Violet’s nails are all pink, but she added black polka dots to each one. Lisa’s sparkly gold ring finger pops against her other dark purple nails. Cody’s nails alternate between yellow and black, and there’s a dot in the middle of each of the opposite color.

Isaac probably admires it for too long, but seeing his hand included within theirs makes his heart flutter.

Violet seems to pick up on this, asking, “Do you want me to send it to you?”

“O-Oh, yeah, if you could.”

“Of course. What’s your phone number?”

He pulls out his phone again. _No text from Mom yet, she doesn’t get on break for another two hours at least._

After they exchange numbers, she sends the picture to him immediately. When it pops up on his screen, he saves it and looks up at Violet.

“Thank you.”

She smirks, “No problem.”

She’s the coolest person Isaac has ever met.

* * *

An hour and a half into the night, Isaac’s gotta say that agreeing to come was the greatest decision he’s ever made in his life ever.

He’s currently playing _Sly Cooper 4_ , which Cody had brought to play and has been teaching him the controls for the past five minutes. He’s a pretty good teacher (definitely better than Mr. Spender), and Isaac doesn’t feel like an idiot for mixing up which button sneaks up on enemies and which button hits them. Cody simply laughs as says, “That’ll work too.”

He continues to play and crack jokes with Cody for another 20 minutes _“Why does Sly Cooper even have a normal cane when the design peaked with Tennessee's gun cane?” “His name’s Sly Cooper, not Smart Cooper.”_ before Cody presses his hand down on Isaac’s shoulder and says, “Alright, I’ve seen enough, I think it’s time.”

“Time?”

Cody takes the controller and quits the game. He then gets up, turns off the Playstation 3, and changes the tv back to the Wii U.

After he puts in a new disk and grabs two controllers, he stands in front of Isaac and crosses his arms.

“You’ve won over the hearts of the rest of the group, but not me. Not yet. No, for me to accept you,” he holds up one of the controllers and hits the A button. The screen behind him plays the _Super Smash Bros 4_ theme, and then begins loading up the start screen. 

_“You have to earn it.”_

The start screen brightens up the room and the rest of the group, who were playing a spirited game of Bullshark, turn to face the two of them. Isaac stares up at Cody in awe.

“Final Destination, no items, three lives only. Do you accept the challenge, Isaac?”

He looks back at the others, who seem to be on the edge of their seats (the nonexistent ones on the floor) already. Jeff grins and nods, saying “You got this, dude!”

Now, Isaac _knows_ this game. He used to play online religiously when his mom first bought it for him. He’s taken down the worst Ryus, the annoying Captain Falcons, and the counter-happy Marths without a single sweat. Whatever Cody could possibly throw at him…

… Isaac can handle.

He turns back to Cody, who’s smiling like Isaac’s a fresh lamb about to head into the slaughter. Oh, if only _he knew_. Isaac smiles a deadly smile of his own.

_“I accept.”_

* * *

Isaac picks Dark Pit, obviously. Dark Pit has stood beside him through the worst of the game, and holds all his high scores.

Cody picks Ness, which puts Isaac at the advantage from the start. 

_Heh, of course he foolishly picked a light character with many projectiles. I’ve already got this in the bag,_ Isaac thought.

Until Cody spammed PK Fire and then KO’ed Isaac with a single Baseball Bat Swing.

Isaac turns to looked at Cody in shock, who glances back at him and gives the same smirk that Lisa gave him earlier.

“Problem?”

_Oh, so he’s playing dirty._

“Nope,” Isaac says, looking back at the screen and tightening his grip on the controller.

When Dark Pit comes back on screen, Isaac doesn’t hesitate to rush forward and ElectroShock Ness, roll to face the opposite side of him, then repeat until Ness flies off-screen.

Isaac looks back at a grimacing Cody and cockily says, “I’m just warming up.”

_I can play dirty too._

The moment Ness is summoned again, the game is _on_. Swords and energy pulses fly everywhere and both characters dodge and slash at a rate almost too fast for Isaac to keep up with. It takes him a good five minutes to finally send Ness off-screen once again with a well-timed forward tilt.

Jeff and Violet begin cheering behind him, which matches the cheering in the game.

“I-saac! I-saac! I-saac!”

“Pi-ttoo! Pi-ttoo! Pi-ttoo!”

Ness appears once again, and immediately sends Dark Pit up into the air, then combos multiple times. Dark Pit’s damage goes up very fast in a short amount of time.

_C-Crap! I have to get out of Ness’s range!_

Dark Pit shoots off in the opposite direction, but instead of following, Ness waits in place. As Dark Pit begins his downward descend, Isaac gasps when he sees Ness rush forward and use PK Flash.

“W-Wait a seco-”

Dark Pit flies off screen.

“I think it’s more fair to even the odds, don’t you?” Cody asks, more relaxed and _more of a threat._

_Now we’re both at one life. I really gotta be careful with every single move I make. I can’t predict what he’ll do at all._

“Isaac!”

“Huh?” he turns around and Jeff claps his hands on Isaac’s shoulders.

“Bro, listen. You totally got this, okay? Repeat after me: I will be Cody’s friend.”

“I, um, I will be Cody’s friend!”

“Louder!”

“I will be Cody’s friend!” This all feels a bit silly to him, but saying it does make him feel more determined.

“Alright! Then go out there and destroy that little baseball nerd!”

“I will!” Isaac says, turning back and taking a deep breath. He’s gonna win. There’s no way he can turn back now.

Cody seemed to be waiting for Isaac to get back, because both characters are on screen and no one’s made a move yet.

“You wanna be my friend that badly?”

“Of course.”

Dark Pit races towards Ness and hits him with ElectroShock again. Ness goes into the air, then PK Thunders back and hits Dark Pit dead on. Ness prepares his Baseball Swing, but Dark Pit rolls behind him and hits him with a forward tilt. 

“... Why?”

“Huh?”

Isaac hesitates, and Cody takes advantage of this to hit Dark Pit with a PK Flash.

“Why do you want to be my friend?”

“Oh, um…”

Why _does_ he want to be Cody’s friend? Logically, because he’s part of Jeff’s friend group, and is seemingly Jeff’s favorite of the group. But… that’s not it, no.

Dark Pit flies to the other side of the map, and shoots an arrow, which Ness absorbs with PSI Magnet. Ness uses PK Thunder to shoot forward, but Isaac times it so Dark Pit hits Ness with ElectroShock right when he stops. Ness goes back in the direction he came.

This is fun.

Oh.

_This is fun._

“Because I’m having fun.”

“Fun?”

Dark Pit uses ElectroShock again to rush forward toward Ness. Ness stuns him with PK Fire, and then hits him with a partially charged Baseball Swing. 

“Yeah, this is fun. _Sly Cooper_ was fun. If this is just the ‘sneak peek’ of what being friends with you is like…”

Dark Pit comes back and hits Ness with a forward tilt. Ness hits him with a PK Thunder. As Dark Pit recovers, Ness gets close and sends out PK Fire.

_An opening!_

“... then I’d be willing to do this 100 more times for the full experience.”

Dark Pit reflects it, and luckily Ness was close enough to get hit by his own attack. Dark Pit hits Ness while he’s stunned, and when he’s launched up, Dark Pit runs to where he begins to fall and hits him one last time with ElectroShock.

Ness flies off screen, and the announcer’s voice fills the room.

_“GAME!”_

The entire group, save for Cody, begins cheering. Cody sets down his controller, studies Isaac’s face for a moment, and smiles.

“Lucky for you I’ll only make you do it once.”

As Dark Pit’s theme plays on screen and the character poses with a _“Looks like I’m the last man standing,”_ Cody once again stands up, and holds his hand out to Isaac.

“For succeeding where many others have failed…”

Isaac grabs his hand.

“... you, Isaac O’Connor, have officially earned the right to be…”

Cody pulls him up, and they stand facing one another. 

“... my friend.”

Cody’s grinning, and Isaac can feel that he is too.

“I’ll hold this title with great honor.”

“I don’t doubt you will.”

They shake hands. 

Jeff launches forward and hits the both of them, nearly knocking them into the tv. As they steady themselves, Jeff wraps an arm around each of their shoulders. 

“Yes yes yes! Now the new and improved group is official!”

“Now we can add him to the group chat,” Violet says. She looks as excited as Isaac feels.

“And the Skype group,” Lisa adds.

“And you’re officially invited to all my sleepovers forever!” Jeff cheers, shaking Isaac’s shoulder.

He can’t help but laugh, and he looks back at Cody who hasn’t yet released his hand. Cody’s smile becomes smaller but softer, and he tightens his grip on Isaac when he says, “Welcome to the group, Isaac.”

Isaac matches his grip.

“Happy to be here, Cody.”

Cody's the most interesting person he's ever met.

* * *

Once the whole group settled down, they decided that they should all watch a movie.

“According to all known laws of aviation…”

Isaac doesn’t quite know why they’re watching the Bee Movie, but Jeff insisted that Isaac clearly misremembered it and that it’s one of the greatest films of all time. When Isaac looked over at Violet and Cody, they both shrugged.

Jeff also demanded that they build a pillow fort to “set the mood” and Isaac didn’t question that decision at all. Now, everyone’s huddled and practically laying/sitting on top of one another and watching the screen. 

Lisa’s legs are across Isaac’s own, and she’s leaning back on Violet’s side. Violet’s also got Jeff on her, but he’s laying at the front of the group with his arm propping up his head. Cody’s laying on his stomach perpendicular to him, on the opposite side of Isaac as his sister.

Isaac feels his phone vibrate in his pocket.

_Good. Are you having fun?_

He looks around at the rest of the group, who all seem content with him being a member now. He can’t help but smile.

 _Definitely_ , he sends back to his mom.

The film goes on for about 30 minutes before Isaac can’t actually pay attention to it anymore. As much as he’s trying to appreciate it, he’s seen enough “the bee movie but” videos that he can’t take this seriously or ironically at all. Sorry, Jeff, but Isaac’s tastes must be a little too mature for this. 

His mind wanders to all the unnecessary prep he went through and didn’t use at all, and how happy he is now that he’s here and accepted, and-

_There’s two monsters in this house._

He knows he said he’s probably not in danger, and he certainly doesn’t feel in danger, but he’s never met a monster before. Never had to fight one before. Never had to defend himself from one before.

_King C said it’s not Jeff, so it’s unlikely that his parents are the monsters either. If there’s two, then the most likely suspects are…_

He glances down at Cody, who’s still entirely into the movie. He doesn’t seem tired at all, at least compared to Isaac. He then looks at Lisa, who turns her attention towards him and smiles, almost knowingly.

_Lisa and Cody are the monsters._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i main dark pit so isaac mains dark pit, that's just how it is
> 
> i also main ness, so cody mains ness, and that's also just how it is
> 
> cody also mains meta knight though, but i dont, so i didnt make him play as that
> 
> alright so i went with actual game titles now because those are probably more important???? maybe??? i dunno, i just did
> 
> Mario Kart 8 is fun, but im really kinda bad at it. dont really like the two different rainbow roads. keep it the classic wii way, nintendo, you peaked with that design
> 
> the Sly Cooper series is freakin phenomenal. seriously, its probably in my top 5, and i cant stop telling people to play it. the third one is my favorite, but the fourth one has some really good things going for it. there was a teaser for a movie, like, two years ago? ill have to check if theres any updates but its just a good game series and you should play it, alright?
> 
> Super Smash Bros 4 is legendary. i dont care about brawl or melee because i didnt play those, so this one and the next one coming are gonna be the only two ive ever played and You Know im gonna be a Daisy main when that game comes out
> 
> besides all that, now cody and isaac are officially Friends! we did it folks, roll credits, close the curtains. story over. im kidding, obviously, there's a lot i wanna put into this thing.
> 
> thanks for reading!


End file.
